


Ghosts

by droukhunter



Series: Echoes [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Espionage, F/M, Imperial Intelligence, Mostly Canon Compliant, Nobody is Straight in Space, OC-centric, Sith Empire critical, Trust Issues, Unbeta'd, other ships will be added as they begin to show up, rating may go up as the fic progresses, spies in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2020-10-11 18:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20550596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/droukhunter/pseuds/droukhunter
Summary: An exiled Chiss Watcher agent is assigned to a troublesome Cipher agent as his handler. As they slowly get to know each other, and their respective secrets begin to unravel in front of them, they begin to realize that the Empire they'd been sworn to serve may not have their best interests in mind.A story of two lonely people by profession learning that there's more to life than what their society tells them they have to be, and trying to find what that "something better" could look like, as they attempt to remain unseen by the enemies around them and inside them.





	1. Asset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Keep your eyes down and don't speak unless you're spoken to were the only two rules a servant had to follow, and those just so happened [to also] be the basics of espionage.”  
Danielle Bennett, _Dragon Soul_

_ Dromund Kaas, Imperial Intelligence Headquarters, Kaas City (Keeper’s Office) - 4 ATC _

Pherue (or, who she knew she was supposed to be now, _Watcher Six_) fiddled with the now-defunct wedding band on her right hand, the only symbol that she remained of her Chiss culture and of her life before the Empire took her away from it. The relatively simple ring had the etchings of the traditional symbols of the Red Flame on its silver surface, with a very small red gem in the center. Keeper had told her to come into his office, but the two of them had stood in silence while his brows furrowed and he tapped his left foot in frustration or perhaps impatience.

At least he didn’t seem frustrated with her in particular, but that was a small pittance, given that she had to put up with his frightening and just generally unpleasant behavior and attitude until whatever this meeting was about was to actually be addressed and she was allowed to leave. That said, she had her duty now to Imperial Intelligence, and by extension, the Sith Empire; she was no longer a citizen of the Ascendancy, but rather exiled by the very people who lauded her as someone with great value to them and the future of themselves only a few years prior.

She knew better than to speak, especially not in a casual manner, to Keeper; he had not given her permission to do so, and that seemed to be the norm in the Imperial service, whether the military or Intelligence itself.

The doors to Keeper’s office opened, and a human man with ocular implants shielding his eyes walked in, resting his right forearm on the doorframe and leaning into it while breathing heavily. He must have run over here and overexerted himself in the rush to get over to Keeper’s office. She found herself glowering at the interloper without realizing it was happening.

The man flinched and seemed to deliberately look at his feet in response, still remaining in the doorframe. Keeper broke the silence that had permeated for several minutes at this point:

“Cipher Six, you need to _ actually enter _ the office. This meeting _ is _ important enough to merit closing the door.”

The other man, seemingly out of a haze once again, simply nodded and walked into the room with a completely different, seemingly more self-assured demeanor than prior. How this man had survived three years as a Cipher Agent, Pherue had no idea, considering his seeming inability to play the role of a loyal Imperial; if he couldn’t do that, there probably wasn’t much else he could play convincingly, either. Pherue wondered if one or both of those were masks he wore as a Cipher Agent or if one of those was genuine--if there was a genuine one, it was likely the first one, all things considered. But she had been briefed by Keeper shortly beforehand, so she hoped she could get introductions over with quickly and send off Cipher Six on his next mission to get him out of her vicinity; after all, Watcher agents did _ more _ than just babysit Cipher agents. That said, she waited for Keeper’s approval to introduce herself, which he gave via a nod.

Pherue just as quickly turned to face Cipher Six. “Hello, Cipher. I am Watcher Six,” she said, willing herself to keep her face as unreadable as possible in an attempt to hide the wince she wanted to make regarding that “new name” of hers, “and I will be your handler from here on out. Please report to me unless otherwise specified after a mission and we will discuss the post-mission results reports together, and also report to me when asked by me so that I can give you the details of any new mission you’ve been assigned to. Is that clear?” She stared pointedly at him, waiting for a response. Cipher Six’s silence had already lasted a few seconds too long for her tastes.

Cipher Six’s face was a little red, which was odd, given how comfortably cool (she had been told that to most human physiology, it would be considered “cold”) it was inside Keeper’s office. She chose not to inquire as to the reasoning behind why that happened. “Understood, Watcher Six. It’s a delight to meet you and work alongside you. Let me know of my next assignment when you are ready, and...don’t be a stranger, alright?”

Pherue simply nodded before he turned around and walked out the door; she had no idea how else to react, honestly. After all, who says “don’t be a stranger” to their direct supervisor upon their first meeting? She was taken out of her thoughts after hearing a clearing of the throat from Keeper; she turned back to face him, her gaze at his chin instead of making direct eye contact and her back and shoulders stiffening as straight as they could manage.

“Watcher Six, excellent job debriefing Cipher Six. That said, I suggest you keep a close eye on him when you can. He has a knack for reckless behavior and a tendency towards insubordination when here at Headquarters. Were it not for his oddly high percentage of mission success, we would have rid ourselves of him some time ago. Oh, and before I forget,” Keeper added, sitting down behind his desk, right leg over left in an almost-casual manner, “don’t let him influence you. I have suspicions about him that I have yet to confirm, despite my best efforts to have eyes on him wherever he goes, and it would be prudent for you not to get mixed up in his personal entanglements, lest you be a victim to them as well.”

“Of course, Keeper. May I take my leave, sir? I should really debrief Cipher Six on his next mission, since it appears rather time-sensitive and he should probably be on his way as I stand here. I’m sure you’d approve.”

“You may, Watcher Six. However, I would like you to continue to consider my advice; no one is really sure what to make of Cipher Six, and we have yet to determine what he’s really thinking.”

This turned out to be a lie, in retrospect. Keeper and several others in Intelligence knew _ full well _ what both Watcher Six _ and _ Cipher Six were thinking. Intelligence was merely biding its time before they could get concrete proof, but knew they could use the help as long as the two of them continued to be useful to them.

\--

“Cipher Six, you know your mission and your target. Remember to lay low, hold your sniper rifle steady, and try to avoid being seen. This happens to be the type of mission in which have proven to already be well-versed in, so I would advise you to not cause trouble; that said, if something goes awry, do not hesitate to contact me. Understood?” Pherue squinted at her own copy of the mission details. Hopefully Cipher Six knew his mission well enough now that he would no longer need his.

“Yes, ma’am. I suppose I should head over to one of the infiltration spots marked on this map, correct?” Cipher Six pointed to the red markers on the map on his datapad.

“Yes, Cipher. There’s a transport outside waiting to take you a few kilometers away from the northmost marker on that map. Remember my advisement, please, and remember to move from one point to the next if you have to if you can’t get a good angle on your mark. Taking multiple shots will merit the wrong kind of attention, as I’m sure you’re aware, and I have no desire to arrange for an extraction if it could have been avoided.”

“Yes, Watcher Six,” he replied, almost exasperated. Maybe her approach was too patronizing? Pherue had been told by Keeper that this was the best way to deal with him, but Six didn’t seem to be responding well to Keeper’s suggested approach. Perhaps he thought too little of Cipher Six, and he was more capable than either of Keeper or the man he’d given advice about had let on. She did her best to repress that thought, however, and remind herself that Keeper gave his advice for a reason; thus, it was best to hold to it.

“Good luck, then, Cipher Six. When you get back, I’ll be ready to work with you on your mission report. You know what to do, so I’d best let you get to it.”

\--

Pherue--no, Watcher Six, she chastised herself--paced anxiously around her desk, checking her datapad for updates and her various input feeds for anything on the status of Cipher Six’s mission. She began to ask herself if it really took this long to get a good shot at a fairly obvious target. The leader of the slave revolt on that section of Dromund Kaas was rather distinctive, not unlike herself, she supposed. He was a Gran and would surely stand out when meeting with his conspirators at their informant’s given time and coordinates. Even if it were nighttime (as it was), Cipher Six’s sniper rifle scope was equipped with night-vision capabilities, as were his ocular implants, so it’s not as if he were impaired by the conditions of the mission itself, either.

On top of this, she had requested a check-in if he could manage it without being noticed at ninety minutes in if he had yet to spot the target. And the clock on her desk indicated that ninety-seven minutes had passed since he’d reported his arrival at the first set of coordinates. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong, and that Intelligence would not only have her head, but that Cipher Six--who had been rather friendly, for an “acceptable” Imperial, without any sort of obvious ulterior motives--would die under her watch. 

The Ascendancy, while valuing duty to the Chiss over any personal motivations, still emphasized the concept of _ cact'icei _ in terms of any sort of relationship--professional, platonic, or anything else. She couldn’t remember the word in Basic for it, too caught up in anxiety to be able to jog her memory for the translation, but she knew: something had to be done--at the very least, for the sake of the mission’s success, if not for the sake of Cipher Six himself, if he was indeed in danger. Given the hour of the evening, the only remaining agents available on call were other Watchers (in particular, the genetically-enhanced ones) and maybe a few Fixers who were working overtime on personal projects. Everyone else was off-world on other assignments or off-duty at this time. 

She steeled herself for the possibility of having to deal with armed slaves and went to the armory to pick up some weapons, even though she’d not scored very high in those areas of aptitude testing (it may have just been a lack of practice on her end, but nonetheless, it had been a major factor in assigning her to be a Watcher agent, according to Keeper); she willed herself to not dizzy herself with nerves as she walked inside. Upon reaching the selection of available arms, she picked up what she thought might be best, given the circumstances and what might be missed least. An older, but more easily concealable, blaster rifle model, some blaster pistol carelessly left on the ground, appropriate power packs for both of those, light demolition charges and a remote detonator synced to them, and a rather nice vibroknife (her close-quarters combat aptitude scores, unlike her overall scores--which seemed to favor skill with a blaster of some kind, had been rather impressive, according to Keeper, so she kept that in mind as she selected which vibroknife to pick for this...off-the-cuff, unapproved extraction) seemed to be the best options to pick, given the circumstances. Changing into her off-duty clothing in the changing room and hiding her small arsenal in the places they would be best concealed, Pherue looked around carefully and ran off to the nearest transport whose controls she was at least a little familiar with, making sure her own copy of the mission details was with her. Strapping herself into the pilot’s seat, she sent a single message to Cipher Six’s mission holofrequency as she prepared the transport for takeoff:

_ I’m on my way for you. Hang in there, and feel free to send me coordinates so I know where to find you, if possible. - W6 _

With that all taken care of, she began to pilot the transport to her intended destination.

_Dromund Kaas, 11497 kilometers southeast of Kaas City, in the midst of the Kaasian Jungles - 4 ATC_

Pherue was suddenly grateful she had decided last-second to take that stealth generator that was in the armory as she noticed several of the slave leaders mentioned in the mission details on close guard of the area. Activating the device, she snuck past the surprisingly-heavily-armed slaves as she approached closer to where the majority of them were clustered. She was not even remotely surprised to find Cipher Six partially-conscious and having been clearly beaten up in hopes of him giving them information as to his identity and intentions. Having scoped the area sufficiently (at least, in her opinion), she began to set some of the charges she had taken on parts of the retaining wall over where Cipher Six was being held, making sure the detonator was still where she had put it, periodically checking over her shoulder to make sure that no one had noticed that the stealth generator needed time to cool off and she was actually visible. Satisfied with the layout of charges, she turned the stealth generator back on and headed towards where the slaves were beginning to disperse. It seemed as though Cipher Six was unconscious, or at least pretending to be--and if he was simply pretending, he was doing a good job of being convincing. There was, however, one person on guard. The Gran was supposed to be the leader; why was he guarding a possible threat? Then again, his dossier read that he had some sort of honor code that was unusual for his species, so she supposed that had something to do with his current choice of action. Unfortunately for him, his honor was misplaced in this particular scenario; she was already behind him, who was completely unaware of her presence.

\--

His target was bleeding to death on the ground, stabbed by a vibroknife (which was conspicuously missing) in the gut, by the time Ausin regained consciousness. He could faintly feel his restraints loosening before he was roughly grabbed by the arm and was leaning on someone. He looked to his left. Why was Watcher Six here, and how did his mission complete itself while he was unconscious? Did she really finish it for him?

But the other revolt leaders were aware of their presence, he noticed. Ausin managed to croak something, despite his throat burning with pain. “We might need to get out of here as soon as possible. Please tell me you,” he paused to cough out some of the blood building up in his throat, “have a plan to distract them so we can both get out of here.”

Watcher Six simply smiled, her red eyes glowing brightly in the dark, but with a bit of a mischievous twinkle to them. “Who do you take me for, you?” she replied, clearly meant as a joke. What an interesting woman.

She pulled something out of her shirt--he flushed out of embarrassment at the fact that he could see her bra thanks to her opening her shirt to retrieve whatever was in there--and within a few seconds of turning his head the other direction, Ausin saw a series of explosions burying the other slave leaders in rubble. “How did someone this fun exist underneath the cold and overly serious persona this woman wears at headquarters,” he found himself asking out loud, albeit so quietly it was nearly a whisper, and he cringed. He had meant to think that, not speak it aloud!

Watcher Six seemed to have noticed his unintentional comment, but merely quietly chuckled as they approached (with him clearly limping towards) the transport she must have piloted herself. He still wanted to kick himself for his unintentionally-spoken inappropriate comment; he liked to think he was more of a gentleman than to insult a pretty woman like Watcher Six to her face! (And apparently, he had just admitted to himself that he found her pretty. This woman was going to be the death of him, he thought, since he’d only known her for at best a day or two by now.)

Before he knew it, she’d strapped the both of them into the front seats of the transport, placed all their armaments in the back of the transport, and began to pilot it and them presumably back to headquarters. Despite the constant cloud cover of the ever-gloomy, Kaasian thunderstorms, he thought he could see a sliver of the system’s sun rising a bit through a gap in one of the clouds. Maybe things were looking up for him, for once.

_Dromund Kaas, Kaas City, Imperial Intelligence Headquarters (Medbay) - 4 ATC_

Ausin wanted nothing more than to sleep in that moment, but Watcher Six, upon arrival at headquarters, insisted that he get checked by a medical droid there and that once the diagnostics and recommended treatments came back, that the droid provide that as they worked on the mission report. Desperately willing his eyes to stay open, he supposed that maybe letting the ocular implants retract would help keep him awake a bit longer (for whatever reason, the lights at Intelligence headquarters usually overwhelmed him with their brightness; perhaps it was to compensate for how dark it was outside most hours of the day), so he pressed the button between his left earlobe and his left temple to retract them. It was working, at least, but apparently Watcher Six had been asking him questions, since there had been some chatter on one side of him that was distinctly not the medical droid, and now she was quiet and seemingly either pensive or miffed. Either was probably bad, to be honest. “Ah, I, uh, missed most of that,” Ausin shrugged, grunting loudly when that movement caused him pain, causing him to return to how he’d been lying down before.

“I suppose that’s alright,” Watcher Six replied, oddly enough. “Just, can you let me know what went wrong? I can leave it out of the report, if you. We mostly just need to put in whether the mission succeeded and how it was completed, and I don’t mind leaving myself out of the details.”

“No, you extracted me from what would have been my death and completed the mission while I was out. You deserve the credit for that,” Ausin grinned. “Also, as thanks, can I take you out for caf sometime? I’ll pay, if that makes you feel better.”

“Cipher Six, you should know better than to try to seduce your handler. You know it’s not going to be that easy to get in good standing with me--or with Keeper, for that matter--right?”

“Have I been naughty, Watcher? I suppose I’ll have to let you punish me, huh? What did you have in mind? I can take it; I don’t think you’d get the reaction you want, though, sorry to disappoint.”

Watcher Six’s serious persona immediately returned. He frowned, already missing the fun individual behind the work-obsessed mask. “Just..tell me what happened. I won’t be asking again. And yes, I do know how to use a vibroknife rather well. I may still have it on me, so you may want to actually listen to me this time.”

“Oh, that’s kinky, Watcher. But fine, I’ll play along. Not the biggest fan of those,” Ausin grimaced, feeling his right shoulder wound being patched up by the med-droid with kolto, providing a rather strong stinging sensation there. “Turns out that northernmost coordinate was their actual meeting location. The informant was setting up whoever was going to be sent to the mission. Honestly, I’m lucky you showed up, or the trap that was set up would have ended in my death, huh.” He grimaced again, thinking about how close he’d gotten to dying, and at that point he’d started looking anywhere but at Watcher Six herself.

  
Stars be damned if he let his _ xealonera _ of a “mother” win this one. He’d live forever, just to spite her. He was so much more than she said the Force would have to say about him, and that absolute jerk-ass would get her karmic justice someday. But for now, he just wanted to rest a bit. He gave Watcher Six the rest of the information she asked for, and shortly after, she took her leave and presumably went to her place to sleep. He noticed his right hand felt colder for some reason upon her departure, meaning...she’d been holding his hand. Was it a Chiss cultural thing? Or was she flirting with him, too, in her own way? He was too tired to actually dwell on it now, though, so he let himself drift to sleep.


	2. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” ― Ernest Hemingway  
Pherue receives a change of plan from Keeper, and Ausin comes along for the ride. Ausin and Pherue choose to trust each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for a fairly vivid flashback/panic attack at the end of the chapter. In other news, I'm sorry I took so long to update! I got really sick over the past few months, and only just started to feel well enough to write/edit this chapter. Hopefully folks like it!

Pherue wondered why Keeper was calling her back in. Her Cipher agent was alive and the mission went well. The mission reports were in, and there was nothing wrong with the contents or formatting of the report. The only thing that might be off was the maverick way in which she handled the mission; after all, Watchers were Watchers because they usually were hands-off. Not like that Watcher One guy. Regardless, she knew better than to ask herself questions at Keeper’s door. She could ask the appropriate questions of Keeper himself.

She really should have come up with different questions than she was considering, to be honest. But she didn’t know that when the doors opened to the office, with Keeper, Cipher Six, and _ Watcher Three _ inside their boss’s office.

“Did I do something wrong, sir?” Pherue asked hesitantly, wanting to sink into the floor all of a sudden. This was where she died, wasn’t it. After losing so much, she would lose her own life, too. So much for helping her people.

“Far from it, Watcher Six. You have performed admirably. The reason you’re here is not as grim as you seem to think, so no need to slouch like that. You are a disciplined and adaptable agent of the Empire. Which is what these two are here for,” Keeper said, his eyes smiling in a way his mouth did not as he gestured to Cipher Six and Watcher Three. “Specifically, you’re being transferred.”

Pherue drew a blank. Transferred? “Permission to speak freely, Keeper sir?” She was absolutely going to regret asking, she was sure.

“I suspect I know what you’re going to ask, Watcher Six,” Watcher Three interrupted. “You’re to be re-designated. Your mission report indicated that we clearly overlooked strengths we were unable to test for when checking for your aptitudes. You do excellently under pressure, and so Keeper wished to have you as a Cipher agent. Though, that said, we will have to give you further training. You will need to be much better with a blaster than your initial testing results showed, after all. Which is why Cipher Six is here. You will be training with him, since you two worked so well together during his last mission.” He gave a very pointed look to Cipher Six, who was clearly wanting to curl up into himself in that moment.

“Enough insults, Watcher Three. I know how unorthodox this is and how you feel about Cipher Six in general,” Keeper said, giving a menacing glower to Watcher Three, “but you must understand that this was my choice to make, and you will simply have to accept it. Remember what we spoke of before we let in Cipher Six.”

He looked to Pherue. “You’ll be Cipher Eight, and no longer Watcher Six. I know you had at most a few days to adjust to being a Watcher Agent after I gave you an assignment, but I really do think you have the potential. Do not prove me wrong. I’m sure you understand what the consequences are.”

“I...I do, Keeper. Thank you for this opportunity,” was all she had to say in reply. To be quite frank, she wasn’t sure about his ‘faith’ in her. It seemed like he was gunning for her death. But who was she to refuse her superiors?

Watcher Three stood straighter, if that was even possible. “Now, Ciphers, you will meet with me in two hours sharp. Keeper?”

“Yes, Watcher Three will be your new handler, both of you. You are dismissed.” Keeper sighed, motioning for the two to leave his office.

~~

“Keeper, you’ve offered me permission to speak freely, so this is me speaking freely: this is a horrible idea,” Watcher Three said, scratching at his mustache idly as he paced around the front of Keeper’s desk. “I suspect that putting these two together like this is going to create more problems than it will solve, given their respective backgrounds.”

Keeper sighed. “Watcher Three, let me explain my motivations, since clearly it’s not sinking in for you. Cipher Eight is a potential asset. She’s a Chiss with ties to the Ascendancy. Even if she’s been exiled on paper, there are ways to get her to ingratiate herself with them and find a way back in. Should we manage this, we have a chance to have a sleeper agent within the Chiss Ascendancy that reports back to us regularly, solidifying the Empire’s, quite frankly, shaky alliance with them. Even if she’s reluctant to trust the Sith, we simply have to re-frame her perspective.”

“And Cipher Six? I’ve read his file. I know full well about who he was before he became who he is now, and what Intelligence suspects to be causing his psychological issues. Thank you for that information, by the way. It’s going to be rather useful, moving forward.”

“If you’re implying that he’s a potential traitor, need I remind you that there are things he doesn’t know? Besides, think about it this way; they may not be strictly devoted to ideals, but there’s proof that they’ll provide what is useful to us if they’re loyal to each other. And if they do become an inconvenience, we know exactly what to do with them and how to do it.”

Watcher Three cleared his throat. “There’s also the issue of cracking down on inter-species liaisons and also of fraternization, sir. You know we’ve seen several reports of that coming in from the Minders.”

“A different issue, but we can speak on that during this debrief, if you wish…”

~~

“Watcher Three is obnoxious, isn’t he, Eight?” Cipher Six quipped almost immediately after the door closed behind them.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to withhold my judgement on him, Cipher Six. I don’t think this is a good place to ask me about work. There are more surveillance systems in front of Keeper’s office than anywhere else in Intelligence headquarters, you know,” Pherue replied, rolling her eyes. Not that he’d know. “I’m off duty until we meet with Watcher Three in two hours. Would you like to grab lunch instead of standing in front of this office? I promise you it’s much more productive.”

“Oh, uh, well, sure.”

Cipher Six’s face turned away from hers. He put his head down and started walking, twiddling his thumbs in his gloves as he did so. He then turned back as he’d exited the hallway, looking around the corner to speak with her. “Are you joining me or not, Eight? There’s a good place outside HQ, but the mess also has good food at this time.”

“I am. Wait for me, will you?” She found herself smiling, despite herself. It was nice to have someone she worked with closely that she could trust. Assuming it was realistic to. Despite herself, he was easy to trust; he was honest with her and seemed to be kind, something that she couldn’t say about most of the people she’d had to work with here, amongst all of these strange Imperials. In the Ascendancy, she had known she could trust the people around her because everyone she knew was aware that they were part of something important, greater than themselves. The Chiss were destined for greatness, and as such, members of the Ascendancy knew what to expect of themselves and each other. So perhaps the word “trust” didn’t quite cover it. It was more like “cohesion.” 

The Empire seemed very different in comparison, but she thought to herself unwittingly that they weren’t so different, after all. This was a dangerous line of thought, a drop of poison into the well that was her loyalty to her people, whoever they were. She stuffed her traitorous thoughts back into the recesses of her mind and followed after Cipher Six to the mess hall. She’d offered, after all.

\--

Lunch had been by and large uneventful, minus the arrest of Fixer Twenty-One by Minder Twelve in the middle of the mess. Ausin tried not to think too hard about it; it was already a daunting prospect to think about what she might have done to merit arrest without wondering what would happen to her afterwards.

However, he and Cipher Eight were to return to meet with Watcher Three for Eight’s training regimen as well as the details of her first undercover assignment. Ausin suspected he’d be assigned to it as well, given that he was to be her mentor. He tried not to think about the way her uniform flattered her body as she stood up from the table and took her tray to the dishwasher droids. It was disgusting and unseemly--not to mention inappropriate, given his new role as her mentor. Besides, letting her be close was simply a recipe for allowing her to backstab him later. Trust was an impossible commodity in this line of work. Any ally could be an enemy with a knife waiting for your back.

The only certainty in espionage was that there was something you wanted from someone else, and that you had to get it by any means necessary, up to and including killing them.

But dwelling on that would have little point. He had a job to do, grim and filthy as it was.

And the rumors said, assuming they were true, that Watcher Three didn’t like waiting.

\--

Ausin didn’t particularly like Watcher Three. Then again, most of his charges disliked him; he was a pompous karking son of a Hutt, after all. His overly manicured appearance and the stiff way he stood behind his desk as he motioned over Ausin and Cipher Eight definitely complemented his demeanor.

It didn’t help how closely he stuck to protocol and regimen. Ausin resisted the urge to sigh openly; hopefully, this would be temporary, and he would be re-assigned after he finished training Cipher Eight.

At least Cipher Eight seemed to be about as thrilled about this as he was, Ausin supposed. The edges of her lips were twitching in the direction of a grimace, but not enough to give tells to Watcher Three. For a former Cipher, the man was horridly unobservant. Ausin smirked at that, despite himself.

“Cipher Six, compose yourself. We are in a meeting,” Watcher Three reprimanded, wagging his finger as he did, facial expression giving away nothing. His needling voice reverberated in Ausin’s ears unpleasantly. Sithspit, this was going to be the longest meeting he’d ever sat in, wasn’t it? At least until the next one. That was an unpleasant thought.

“Of course, Watcher Three. Sorry.”

“Now,” Watcher Three continued, looking pointedly at Ausin while ignoring Cipher Eight--the person whom this meeting concerned, for karking sake, “here is what you’ll be training our new Cipher agent in. I’ve provided a regimen with a schedule that I highly recommend--”

\--which actually meant _ I require _\--

“--you both follow. As for your first undercover mission, Cipher Eight,” he says, finally addressing her, “you’ll be playing decoy for Cipher Six, who will be assassinating the target in the dossier. You will be playing a pre-established role that we’ve called in some favors for. Now, if Cipher Six trains you appropriately, this will not be a particularly difficult task for you.” Watcher Three finished, a sort of patronizing sarcasm entering his voice after finishing his debrief.

Ausin tried not to mock him in response.

_ Tried _ being the keyword. Watcher Three glared in response. But at least Cipher Eight smiled, which she also failed to hide. Naturally, Watcher Three tried to salvage what was left of his pride in the last few seconds of the debrief:

“_ Dismissed _, both of you. Oh, and Cipher Six? Get a better sense of humor,” he seethed.

Ausin rolled his eyes as he left Watcher Three’s desk, with Cipher Eight following close behind him.

\--

Pherue tried desperately to contain her laughter once they left Watcher Three’s office space, but before she knew it, she found herself leaning on Cipher Six as she lost control over it.

“Is-is that why you’re considered trouble, Cipher Six?” she exhaled, before doubling over in laughter.

He shrugged. “Maybe? I wouldn’t know. I seem to be hot gossip around here,” he replied dryly. “You know, like the weather.”

“The weather’s the same in Kaas City year-round, Cipher Six.”

“That’s the joke, Cipher Eight.”

“Thank you for that, though, in all seriousness,” Pherue said, tightening her features as a gesture of sincerity. “I swear he was singling me out because of my species. Watcher Three has something of a reputation, doesn’t he?”

“I guess you can see why it’s not unwarranted, now. Shame you had to experience that from yet another Imperial.”

“Never mind the fact that I do experience that more than I don’t. So, thank you. For treating me like a person.” Pherue paused, considering the idea of inviting him over for tea. It would certainly help keep her alive longer if she had an ally on her side. She had gotten some new teas in for herself, but in the Ascendancy, tea was meant to be shared. The only reason she had it was for a piece of home in a place that still didn’t feel like home to her. The alien quarter of the residential sector for military personnel (which was where she was given a place to live; the Empire seemed to celebrate the service of aliens who served dutifully by shoving them all into small sections of the city) wasn’t exactly the cleanest place to live, which would be the largest downside she could think of. 

That dingy apartment was as much of a home as she’d have until the Empire got rid of her (and that seemed far more likely than retirement, she thought with a twinge or horror), so she supposed she may as well get used to it. Worse came to worse, if he was actually a creep, she could defend herself. She kept a vibroknife under her pillow, just in case. But she doubted she’d need it if she invited him over. She looked back at him. Was he waiting for her to say something?

“Uh, I have tea. If you would like to join me.” Done.

“Where do you have tea? Your old office? It’s going to get dusty--maybe even stolen--if you keep it there, you know.”

Pherue rolled her eyes. “My apartment unit, Cipher Six. Where would I make tea in my office if there’s nowhere for the water?”

“Right. Um. Okay. Sure.” His face looked like it was getting warmer, and she mentally kicked herself for realizing that it might have looked like she was propositioning him. The Empire worked so differently from the Ascendancy in terms of social cues.

“It would be a purely platonic visit, if that’s what you’re worried about, Cipher Six,” Pherue replied sternly. Maybe she’d misjudged him. Still, given that initial response, it would be prudent to keep her guard up. Just in case. Not that it would help her.

“Alright. I’m off right about...now,” he answered. “I suppose you’re off-duty for the evening as well?”

She nodded in response. “Yes. Follow me, then,” she beckoned him to follow her out of Headquarters towards her area of the residential district.

\--

Ausin’s first impression of the alien quarter was how dirty the streets were, even as the sky grew darker and the streets harder to see. It was clear the street cleaners--slaves under the Sphere of Logistics, naturally, with some level of droid assistance--were told to ignore this part of the city. A single street-cleaning droid passed him and Cipher Eight as they walked forward. Despite the tightly-packed buildings and dirt and grime, however, it was clear that people _ lived _ here. Small decorations from all sectors of the galaxy decorated the walls (likely smuggled in, but to be entirely honest, these were little likely little trinkets compared to the large amounts of stolen goods the Empire used to fuel its war machine--even though the last war ended four, almost five years ago), and he thought he could hear someone playing something on a kloo horn with a deep vocal accompaniment in what he assumed was Sriluurian and the harsh thwacks of a Weequay thunder drum a few streets down.

Cipher Eight motioned for him to follow her as she turned left on the nearest side-street, and the two of them stopped about midway down the block upon reaching what he assumed was her apartment building. A simple few slides of the keycard let them inside the building, up a few floors via the elevator, and into a single-person room without much room to sit. The room exceeded a constriction past “comfy” and extended rather strongly into “crammed.”

Cipher Eight interrupted his observation of her unit. “Cipher Six, what tea would you like? I have mudleaf, jeru, tanque, lavender, ola leaf, deychin root, and gesha flower. I also have some dianogan tea, but it’s really expensive and I don’t have enough for more than one person right now.”

“Uh, ola leaf is preferred, if that’s alright,” Ausin answered, before asking a question that had occurred to him upon entering the unit. “Do I sit on these cushions or kneel?”

“It depends. But you can sit, if you like. I don’t mind,” she replied, turning on the heat underneath the kettle on the stove.

“They say that a person’s choice of tea says something about you as a person,” Eight answered quietly as she began to set up the strainer for the tea leaves. “Ola leaf is at first bitter, but leaves behind a pleasant earthy aftertaste, doesn’t it?”

“It does, Eight.”

“I think that you play up a reputation of being a troublemaker and unpleasant on the surface. But I know that you’re a lot nicer underneath that mask. You’re secretly soft, if not sweet,” she replied, handing over two mugs to him.

Ausin laughed to cover how disturbed he was at how well she was able to read him, as he placed both of the mugs she passed to him in opposing places on the table. “You don’t know me, Eight. That’s ridiculous.”

“I’d like to know you,” Eight replied, taking Ausin’s mug from his side of the table to place it under the tea strainer and pour the now-hot water over the strainer into Ausin’s mug. “If you’re alright with that.” She passed over the mug, which was now steeped to near-perfection. “Also, the number-as-name thing is still weird to me. I know they legally take away our names to give us a number and designation, but...I’m still Chiss, no matter how much of myself they try to take away from me. I don’t know if you feel the same, but I’d like to give you my name to use when off-duty, if that’s alright. And perhaps I would know yours as well.”

A breach of fraternization. Perhaps this was too intimate. But she was offering, and she clearly was conflicted, so Ausin swallowed his fear and replied: “Alright, Eight. What is your name? The one the Empire took away.”

“Call me Feru. I suppose my Chiss name matters not in full, as most non-Chiss struggle to pronounce it correctly.”

“Well, you can always try, or maybe you could teach me. I would like to try, at least,” Ausin replied. “I know the power of a name.” He didn’t, not really, at least. Or...maybe he did. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he did, as much as he was drawing a blank on it.

She took a sip of her own tea, testing the “Try to emulate what I am saying, then. _ Chaf’eru’tevas. _”

“_ Kaph’eru’vas. _ ” He tried. “ _ Pherue. _ It’s a nice name.”

“Not bad for a first try, Six,” she giggled. Her laugh was so pretty, like the auditory equivalent of the stars on a clear sky on Ziost or some other world that wasn’t Dromund Kaas.

He needed to stop that. Immediately. Pherue had stopped laughing for the duration of him repressing the thoughts he was having and looked pointedly at him when he stopped to return the gaze. “Six, what’s yours?”

“My name?” he asked.

“Yes, Six. Your non-designation name,” she replied quietly, as though she was afraid of actually asking him the question.

He found that he couldn’t form the answer to the question. In fact, she wasn’t even there anymore. Instead, he was surrounded by flames on a ship he’d known only in his dreams. There was so much fire, so much screaming, faulty exhaust pipes, and he was in an escape pod that was escaping this flagship, so cold, and--

A man, human, in an Imperial officer’s uniform with a labcoat over it. Cold, impersonal, rubber gloves. That cold, cruel woman standing before him with an ominous smirk as a droid’s needle approaches, can’t move, the table’s pinning him down. Just as soon as that began, there was a phrase, “keyword,” but he’s saying something, but he can’t remember what. Then--

“--Ausin, are you okay? I’m here, it’s okay, you’re here, in my apartment. Please breathe for me. In and out, in, out.” Pherue was there in front of him. His mug was spilled on her table, and tea was dripping on the floor and drenching the tablecloth in its scent and color. He gasped for air he hadn’t realized he’d been avoiding.

“Thank you, Pherue. I’m okay now.” He wasn’t, but he’d be so soon enough. “Thank you. For trying to keep me grounded.”

He hoped he could trust her. But to do that, he’d have to start doing so. So in that moment, Ausin resolved to trust her, for she was proving herself to be one of the few people in the galaxy worthy of it.


	3. Concurrence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Concurrence, n. - cooperation, as of agents or causes; combined action or effort_
> 
> Pherue and Aidus undergo their first mission as protege and mentor.

Pherue was awfully good at impersonations, Ausin thought. For the mission they were training for, she had to play the role of a potential initiate to the Infernalis Society, an old-money, upper-crust cult of sorts. Chiss were obviously not old-money, but she provided an - and this made him cringe in disgust -  _ exotic _ flair, meaning she’d need to practice her ability to seduce key targets.

“Eight, can you try playing Nayru again? Pretend I am the guard posted outside the Manor,” Ausin asked, steeling himself for his own role. He immediately went to play his own role for the sake of practice. His voice came in an even tone, as he smoothly pretended to check the guest list. “Name, please.”

“Sabosen’ayr’uncha, sir. Nayru for short,” she answered, fluffing up an imaginary vulptilla-fur coat and leaning forward.

In playing the role of the guard posted outside, he replied: “Give me a second, I don’t see that name on the list right now. I need to scroll through it again.”

“Oh, sir, Moff Dycoran himself wishes to see me. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be kept waiting,” she answered huskily into his ear, “and I’ll make sure you’re rewarded for your expedience.” She bit her bottom lip very slowly but deliberately once she’d pulled away.

Ausin swore he’d die on the spot from the desire that flared up in his gut at that moment. Her lips, her body, her breath on his ear, it was all too much, and it was because she was beautiful, and he really shouldn’t have been thinking about her when they were--

“Okay, I think we’ve got the seduction angle down,” Ausin interrupted meekly in a half-effort attempt to save face.

“Alright,” Pherue replied. He could feel his cheeks and ears burning. She was probably onto him.

“Remember to sound extra snooty, but not, you know,  _ too _ snooty. These Infernalis Club people want an inductee that’s of the same cut as them, but as a Chiss, they’re gonna want some subservience to cave to their ego.” He paused. “I’ve already got a name in their books, as I’m infiltrating as a presumed-dead veteran, but you will have a harder time of  _ that _ , at least.”

“As Watcher Three said, however, you will have to convince the people that you are him, which will be more difficult than what I have to do. Your cover was a man who was fairly entrenched within the Infernalis Club. You have a lot of work ahead of you.”

“Ugh, Watcher Three…” Ausin groaned. “He really has it out for me, doesn’t he?”

Pherue gave him what could only be a look of exasperation. “He may be rude and a bit, as you say, ‘hard,’ but he’s right in that Intelligence needs someone inside the Infernalis Club so that we can keep tabs on any other connections they have,” Pherue supplied. “If we fail that…”

“We won’t, Eight,” he reassured her.

“I envy that you can say that with such confidence, Six,” she replied, a note of melancholy to the cadence of her voice. “Among the Chiss, we don’t have confidence or hope or reassurance. Results are the metric by which we gauge success.”

Ausin didn’t know what to say to that, and found himself chewing at his lower lip in the anxious agony of indecision. How did one inspire their people to commit the impossible without hope or confidence or reassurance or morale?

Then again, the fact that the Sith held Imperial Intelligence under so tight of clutches to begin with was a sign that the Ascendancy and the Empire were not so different. That the people and how demoralized they might be didn’t matter, and instead only results mattered.

And what results were good depended on what those in charge cared about, but those were treasonous thoughts so he didn’t dare to speak them aloud, much less around those within HQ. Not even Pherue. (Or at least, not yet. Trusting her was still so new.)

The rest of the practice session went relatively smoothly after that, but Ausin couldn’t shake the feeling that his thoughts about Pherue would be the death of him if they were ever to surface in a noticeable way.

_ Dycoran Estate, Kaas City Outskirts, Northwestern Quadrant _

The training had gone smoothly, in Pherue’s mind, but she wouldn’t know for sure until they shuttled over there and tested it in person. Ausin was dressed up in his Intelligence-procured fineries, every inch the portrayal of a Kaasian gentleman. They’d streaked fake grey in his hair and retracted his optical cybernetics, showing blue eyes that sparkled with a sort of amusement.

As for herself, they put her in a tight red dress that sparkled like the night sky and showed a lot of skin. It had a slit in the back and plunged in the front. She at first wondered how it’d stay on her curves, but the team who helped her slip into the number managed.

It was a new experience, and not exactly a welcome one. Pherue wondered if this was what Ausin meant by “they see you as exotic.” That her body would be on display in such a way that that was the only thing that the individuals at the Infernalis Club would pay attention to. That her identity as a Chiss woman was a sexualized  _ weapon _ on display was highly disturbing to her. But it was what Imperial Intelligence asked of her, and she knew better than to voice her concerns, lest they decide she wasn’t worth the effort.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Ausin waved her over, as it was time to use the skills she’d been practicing up until this moment. Before they got to the doorman, she whispered in his ear, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

He whispered back, “You’ve got this. You managed just fine when it was just us. If you’re lost, just pretend I’m the doorman.”

“But you’re right here.”

“Like when I was when I played his part. Come on, now. Let’s not keep the poor sucker waiting.” He wrapped his hand around her by the small of her back, and she shivered, though it wasn’t cold (especially not compared to Csilla).

“Name, please,” the guard asked flatly, clearly bored out of his mind. “Sir, if you will?”

“Mesyk Zorah,” answered Ausin, surely as breathing. How he could not be nervous, she had no idea. The guard nodded, scrolling down and seeing the name on the list.

“Good to see you back, sir. And the lady?”

“S-sabosen’ayr’uncha, sir. Nayru for short,” she stammered. “I’m here as Mesyk’s plus-one.”

The guard spent what felt like an eternity scrolling through the list before nodding and gesturing at the door. “Welcome, both of you. Enjoy the party.”

The interior of the manor was extravagant and gaudy, Pherue thought. A white and gold marble was used as the flooring in the room that most of the guests were situated in. The walls were of a similar coloring, and there were elaborate crystal chandeliers on both sides of the room. Chiss architecture was so different, she thought--more minimalistic, but most of the Ascendancy government buildings were just as large, if not as elaborately decorated.

She clung tightly to Ausin’s arm as they walked into the ballroom. She felt eyes on her everywhere, and, glancing around the room, she knew for a fact she was the only Chiss at this party--no, she was the only  _ alien _ here. Even the slaves they were likely using to supply food and drink and clean the manor were human.

It made her skin crawl with trepidation. Being alone was so...so  _ suffocating _ .

Luckily, Ausin was there. As the senior agent, he was in his element. She’d thought him a bit incompetent previously, but he knew how to slip a mask on when his mind was set to it, apparently. Mingling was a breeze at his side; all she really had to do was pretend to care and smile nicely when people said things that made her want to scream (and as though she couldn’t hear or understand, which was totally false). His arm held tighter against her, and she could feel her skin go something akin to aflame from the touch, even so much as she felt safe. The feeling felt familiar, but so much stronger. She couldn’t pinpoint what the emotion was, however.

Trying to keep her thoughts in line (it was far too hot in here), Pherue gently pulled herself from his arms--though, admittedly, she found herself not wanting to--and whispered, “Ausin, how do think we’re doing?”

“You’re doing great,” replied Ausin.

Was she really, though? This was a longer-term con, but one that would eventually help to reveal the identity of a supposed mole for the Republic in the organization. “I wish I had as much confidence in my abilities as you do.”

“You saved my life on the mission that got you this role. I’d say that merits my confidence in you.”

“But this is an infiltration con where I act as someone else.”

“And you’re doing fine. Nayru isn’t a real woman, so you’ve played the role excellently.”

“But--”

“May I dance with the lady, Zorah?” asked an elderly man who had approached them in the middle of their conversation, unbeknownst to her. “I’m Moff Marcus Dycoran, Miss--Nayru, was it?” His eyes sparkled with mirth, and he bowed down to kiss her hand. She took one last, meaningful look at Ausin as she left him to go waltz with the moff.

She didn’t want to leave his side, but she had no choice.

“So, Nayru, I’ll admit I’ve never met a Chiss before. Is the Empire suiting you well?” asked the moff as he led her onto the floor.

She hadn’t practiced this far! So she hastily pulled together a lie: “The adjustment wasn’t easy, but Mesyk has helped some.”

They performed their waltz as he continued speaking. “I will admit I’m curious as to how the two of you met, much less how you got together. Mesyk has always been a vocal opponent of the alliance the Empire has with the Ascendancy. He often said that Chiss women in particular were--actually, I’m not finishing that. It’s highly offensive.”

This was intensely awkward, Pherue thought as she attempted to figure out what she was going to say to this. She looked at Ausin, who was clearly drinking to make himself busy. She’d have to stop that once she could get away from the moff. “I...I saved his life,” she answered demurely. It was the best reasoning she could come up with in the short window she had to answer. And, in a sense, maybe it was true; at least, it could prove true later. Ausin had already begun saving hers. “He was injured, and I nursed him back to health.”

“Well, either way, I’m glad that he has someone like you,” the moff answered. “Ai--Mesyk, I mean--is lucky to have someone like you looking after him.”

“I-I don’t know you yet, Moff Dycoran,” she replied. Would she even want to?

“Oh, just a slip of the tongue. Don’t pay it any mind.” He looked in Ausin’s direction, possibly a few seconds longer than he meant to. He coughed into his hand meaningfully. Did they know each other? “I believe it’s time to return you to his side.” What did he mean by that?

Who  _ was _ the moff? The thought filled her mind, but her tongue came up empty as she was escorted back to Ausin’s side. He must have meant that literally, but Pherue couldn’t shake the thought that he meant something else.

“How was it?” Ausin asked, taking another sip of the champagne he had in his glass. He’d apparently been having a short conversation with a young woman, whom the moff took off with after Pherue returned to where Ausin was. His wife, maybe? She didn’t really care to dwell on it.

“The moff seems...strange,” Pherue supplied, not really sure what to think. Strange seemed the best way to describe him besides the idea that he may have known more than he was letting on.

“Strange, huh. That’s certainly a fair descriptor,” Ausin replied, finishing off his flute of champagne and placing the empty glass on the small table nearby. “I hate opulence like this; it just rubs me the wrong way. That said, we don’t have much of a say in how these snooty people operate, so why don’t we take advantage and have a dance?” 

He reached out his hand to her, which she took gently. He led her onto the floor and took the lead.

Pherue followed his lead and performed each of the steps of this waltz, her heart beating faster than she was willing to acknowledge and her body feeling simultaneously hot and cold. Still, she couldn’t pull away, even if she wanted to--and frankly, she found herself thinking that she wanted this moment in time to last forever. 

At some point, the tempo of the dance changed, and as he dropped her gently as part of it, his face came close to hers and she could smell his cologne. Was he going to kiss her?

She wouldn’t mind if he did, her mind supplied unhelpfully. She tried to push away the feeling of want. He was her mentor and coworker! Intelligence frowned upon fraternization and miscegenation! This was a dangerous line of thought and she couldn’t entertain it, no matter how much her body craved the feel of his lips on hers and on the rest of her.

Desire, she thought. This was  _ desire _ . He pulled away, but his expression hardened, like perhaps he had wanted to kiss her, too.

If only they served an Empire that allowed them to feel what they were feeling without reservation. But here she was, wanting someone she could never have, and as the want pulled at her like a planet’s gravitational pull, she had to do the right thing by her people, by herself.

Slowly, people began to shuffle out of the party, with only the moff, the young woman from earlier, and two other women remaining, in addition to Ausin and Pherue.

Pherue and Ausin said their goodbyes (as much as the moff made Pherue uncomfortable) and headed back to headquarters.

_ Dromund Kaas, Kaas City, Imperial Intelligence HQ _

“So the mission was successful, then.” Watcher Three sat at his seat, looking up from his datapad with the mission report only to make brief eye contact with Ausin.

“Yes, sir,” replied both Ausin and Pherue at the same time. Ausin gave Pherue a high-five under the table.

“Please stop with your juvenile actions, Cipher Six, lest you stray our most promising Cipher Agent away from her full potential.”

High praise coming from the man who had initially thought Pherue a waste of time, she thought wryly. Ausin was a good man, she wanted to say, but that would reveal far more about their burgeoning friendship than she should give to her handler.

Watcher Three cleared his throat and continued after looking pointedly at the both of them. “That said, you also did an excellent job, Six, and as such I’ll be continuing to assign the two of you together on missions. I’ll have you know I had to really push Keeper on this, so don’t abuse this privilege, for the love of the Emperor.”

“Your next mission will take you away from the planet, but you will be playing similar roles to your previous mission,” Watcher Three stated plainly, reaching under his desk and pulling out two datapads. “Dossiers of your personas are on these datapads. You should peruse these before you head onto your transport. I’ve managed to procure a vessel for the both of you to pilot over to your mission. Do not let the Empire down. This mission is crucial to the financial stability of the Empire. Dismissed.”

Pherue left the room after being dismissed, as she had no desire to stay in Watcher Three’s office, even if he had just complimented her and Ausin (mainly her). Ausin followed suit behind her. She looked at him and asked, “Want to look over these dossiers together?”

“Sure thing. Let’s do it right now, since I’ve already got it open.”

Sure enough, her datapad showed the dossier.

_ Cover Identity: Alari’nay’anora, core name Inaya _

_ Role: Fiancee to Jaren Mezer _

Surely that couldn’t be right, she thought. Then she looked over at Ausin’s datapad.

_ Cover Identity: Jaren Mezer _

They were going to have to pretend they were engaged.

And she wasn’t ready. Not even remotely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter's finally up, after months of agonizing over it! I feel like the plot is starting to pick up. Hope you all enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my (hopefully final) attempt at the fic that was previously named Echoes! I've decided to just name the entire series that. As for Ghosts, I've added much more to both the world itself, the now-multiple characters involved, and the plot itself this time around (with a lot more of the espionage intrigue that brings people to read Imperial Agent-based fic in the first place)! That said, I'm pretty happy with where this re-write is going, and I hope you all enjoy this ride as much as I do!
> 
> That said, I do get excited about this fic (and the...several others...I am simultaneously working on), so feel free to hit me up on pillowfort as droukhunter!


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